Escort Duty
TWO MORE DAYS HAVE passed, and everyone is ready to set out on their next quest.
π΄ππππβπ‘ π‘πππ π‘π ππππ π ππππ πππ. "Which one do I want?" Kino mumbles to herself. As she looks over the quest board.
"Can I help you young lady?" A woman asks, appearing next to Kino.
"I'm having trouble picking between these two quests. What do you recommend?"
"Why not both? Look closely at the destinations, they're in the same location."
"Hey, you're right. How did I miss that, thank you. Names Kino."
"I'm Oliva, and you're welcome."
"Alright so you want this escort quest, and the exploration quest is that correct Kino?"
"You got it Rin."
"Ok then you leave tomorrow morning see you later."
"Thanks Rin."
"So what are we doing this time?" Asked Abby.
"We are doing an escort quest and then an exploration quest."
"What are we doing first?"
"The escort quest is first. We'll ride with a merchant caravan heading for Weeping Willow Village. It'll be our job to get them there safely of course. It's a five day journey.
Once there we can rest for a day before we meet up with an exploration team which is our second quest.
They are exploring a newly discovered cave about half a day's walk from the village. We'll clear it of any monsters while they do their jobs." Kino explained.
"What rank are they?" Asked Luna.
"The first is a C rank, and the second is unknown because it has yet to be explored. So we need to keep a record of what monsters we come across. That will help determine its ranking for future explorations."
"Can we keep anything we find?"
"We'll have to ask about that, Leo."
"When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow morning Alice. We'll meet up with the caravan in front of the guild."
"So until then let's go over some battle formations until lunch time." Kiyo informs them. "Then you guys can spend the rest of the day however you want."
The next day.
"Pardon me, but are you The Rising Sun Party by chance?" A man who looks to be in his late forties asks.
"We are." Answered Kiyo.
"I'm Jeff. The leader of the caravan. This is Eris, Aoi, Kayla, and Ken.
"I'm Kiyo, the party leader. This is Kino, Leo, Alice, Abby, Luna, and Corym. I see five wagons in total. Is that correct?" Asks Kiyo.
"Yes." Responds Jeff.
"Kino and Corym you two will be out front scouting ahead. You guys stay about two hundred meters out. Luna, you're in the lead wagon, followed by Leo, Abby, Alice, and I'll be in the rear wagon. Any questions?"
"Yes I have one."
"Yes, go ahead Ken."
"How are Corym and Kino going to stay out ahead of us? Do you have horses?"
"How about a demonstration." Offers Kino.
"Go ahead."
"Hey Aoi, pick something that's way off in the distance." Kino asked.
"Hmmβ¦How about picking some flowers fromβ¦"
"Here you go." Kino hands her a vase of flowers.
"That doesn't prove anything. One of you used magic to conceal the flowers."
"Um Ken, look closer at the vase. It was in my wagon in the rear. There's no way they knew it was there." Aoi points out.
"How? I've never heard of any enchanted gear that can allow someone to move that fast."
"It's a secret Ken." Kino replies with a devilish smile.
"Please forgive me."
"For the record I do have enchanted boots." Corym states.
"Does anyone else have any questions?" Jeff asks. "Anyone?β¦let's head out then."
Everyone climbs into their assigned wagon and the caravan departs for Weeping Willow Village. Two days pass without incident, but on the third day.
"πΏπ’ππ, βπππ‘ π‘βπ πππππ£ππ."
"πβππ‘'π πππππ ππ πΆπππ¦π?"
"πΏππππ¦ ππ π’π πβπππ. πΎπππ π€πππ‘ π‘π π‘πππ π€ππ‘β βππ."
Once the caravan is stopped everyone gathers up by the lead wagon. Corym fills everyone in on what's going on.
"Will she be ok?"
"She'll be fine Jeff." Replies Kiyo.
*
"Hello Lilly."
"I only came to say thank you. Because of you guys I've been cleared of those murders. That shapeshifter's name was Daniel and apparently he held a grudge against me. All because I turned down his offer when asked me out. So when word got out about my losing to you he saw it as a way to get back at me.
"But why team up with the summoners and attack Peach Valley?
"Don't know that's still being looked into." Answers Lilly. "There was also a mage's body found near the summoners."
"Hmmβ¦So many questions and no answers. Anything else I should know about?"
"Dawn is dead."
"What?!" Kino shouts. "How?!"
"Her body wasβ¦" Lilly pauses for a bit fighting back her tears. "Her body was found impaled on a spike from the ass up through the neck. Daniel killed her while she was still alive."
"You don't know she was alive when he did that."
"Yes I do! A Memory Pearl was found among her gear. I saw everything before the headmaster could stop me. He learned the subclass Tamer. That allowed him to tame and form a contract with a female black wasp. The female can paralyze its foe. They typically are the size of a human infant. It's a handy summons for us assassins. Once paralyzed he violated her repeatedly then impaled her. That was the start of his revenge against me. That's how much he hated me. Even now I can't get those images out of my head."
"Why not go after you directly?"
"Dawn and Iβ¦were seeing each other."
"Ohβ¦I'm sorry you lost her."
"Thank you."
"β¦What about ChiChi and Lee?" Kino asks.
"They went missing shortly after you left. I don't know if they're alive or dead."
"Thank you for telling me this."
"Iβ¦need a favor from you Kino."
"Sure Lilly. What is it?"
"I want you to fight me."
"β¦Huh?"
"I need to get stronger and even faster. So nothing like that happens to my friends again. I'm going to use you as a stepping stone to rise up through the ranks. From here on out I'm declaring you as my rival. SO FIGHT ME!!" Lilly yells.
"K." Kino disappears in a blink.
Lilly waits. Trying to sense where Kino will attack from.
"There!!" Lilly spins around but Kino isn't there. Lilly only smiles and keeps waiting. "There!!" Lilly throws a quick jab.
"Nice try." Kino comments having deflected the attack. They repeat this process for ten more minutes.
"Alright, I'm bored of this. So from here on out it'll be a straight on fight. I won't use my speed." Kino removes her shoes and stores them in her inventory. "This should be interesting. I haven't fought without my shoes since I left the school."
"Purrfect."
"Is someone excited for this?"
Lilly answers with a jab. Kino executes a pullback, setting herself up to counter with a cross. Lilly takes the hit stagers backwards but remains standing. The pair stare at one another waiting to see who will make the first move.
"Give us an update Corym." Asks Kiyo.
"Kino has removed her shoes and is fighting Lilly head on."
"Can I go watch?" Asks Luna.
"I want to go too, can I?" Asks Alice.
"Fine, but stay back. Anyone else want to go watch?"
"Yeah I'll go with them." Said Leo.
"Are you really asking me that?" Smirks Corym.
"I'm gonna take a nap." Proclaims Abby.
"Alright Leo look after Luna and Alice please. Corym of course not, but can you do some scouting?"
"Sure thing Kiyo."
"Abby, if you're taking a nap you're on first watch tonight, sound fair?"
"Deal."
"Um, care to explain Kiyo. Jeff asks.
"Those two have a history so it's best to let them work it out."
Two hours later Kino walks back to the group.
"How's Lilly?" Asks Kiyo.
"She dropped from exhaustion, and blood loss. I asked Alice to heal her after she healed me. I gotta say not using my speed for that fight was harder than I thought it would be. But that's an A rank for ya. I'll have to retrain myself not to rely on my shoes so much." Kino proclaims with a smile on her face.
"Will Alice be alright?"
"It's fine Eris. Lilly won't attack her, she's not like that so Alice is safe. Luna and Leo are also with her. Said Kino.
"It's getting late so we should camp here tonight." Suggests Jeff.
"There's a river up ahead on the other side of the field Kino and Lilly were fighting in. That would be a good place to set up camp for the night, and water the horses.
"Sounds good, Corym. Lead the way."
*
The sun is down and the moon is up. Everyone is asleep except Kiyo who is sitting by the fire taking his turn on watch. Off in the distance an owl gives a hoot. Crickets chirp all around him, and a pair of eyes watch him.
"Everything alright Kiyo?"
"Yeah, I'm fine sis. Just thinking."
"What about?"
"Everything that happened at Peach Valley for starters."
"Oh, then let me fill you in on what Lilly told me."
"Did she tell you before or after you two beat the shit out of each other?" Kiyo asks with a smile.
"Before smartass." Kino remarks then begins filling her brother in on what she was told.
"β¦So here's my take on things." Kiyo says. "Daniel, Shin, Finn, and the yet to be named mage formed a party. Daniel starts his revenge by killing Dawn and then goes on a killing spree with the others framing Lilly along the way. Shin and Finn decide to attack Peach Valley, their former home. And I'm willing to bet the mage was also seeking revenge of some kind."
"If the Black Archers were never with those guys from the start. Then why were they there?" Kino asks.
"I have two theories on that." Kiyo said. "The first is that they were hired to kill those four. Because one of their previous victims was of nobility. Otherwise no one could afford the fee to hire them."
"What's the other theory?"
"They want your shoes, Corym's World Sight skill, and possibly my twin blades Onyx and Snow."
"Hmmβ¦both theories are plausible." Kino said, agreeing with her brother. "But there's one more thing you should know about Kiyo."
"What's that?"
"I have the extremely rare skill Converse. This skill lets me talk with animals."
"So you have an extremely rare skill as well."
"I take it you have one as well Kiyo?"
"Yeah. It's called Command Over The Elements. I can use every element in this world."
"So the Black Archers could be after us." Kino asks.
"It's a possibility.
A silence falls between them. Kino leans back and gazes up at the starry night sky. Then with a smile she asks.
"Do you know what this reminds me of?"
"Yeah I do." Kiyo replies "It's from all those camping trips we took as a family over in America."
"You, me, mom, and dad. All of us visiting the orphanage out on the farm that dad grew up on. Roasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories, star gazing, and catching fireflies.
"Night fishing on the river, hearing the coyotes howling off in the distance, helping out with the kids at the orphanage."
"Do you miss them Kiyo?" Kino somberly asks.
"Yes, I do."